Sattva Yoga Studios

Five November Gratitudes as a Yoga Studio Owner

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by Ali Valdez

Anyone have unique traditions, or theme months? At our studio, one of our Sattvists does a Liquid-tober, where she and her spouse drink nothing but water. As November approaches, our studio does a Class Crawl and a Gratitude month. There is a practice I do called #simplegratitude, a plan to change my mental state each and every day regardless of life circumstances. I can find good in virtually all things, even the unsettling and confrontational ones.

November is my chance to share this love of practicing gratitude with my yoga community, and this blog is really dedicated to them. I would like to share with everyone why I am grateful for having my yoga studio, even in the midst of the highs and lows, the uncertainty, and sometimes transitory nature of our students, and the years of surrounding construction and in spite of such challenges, blessings remain ten-fold and continue to grow.

With gratitude and from the heart, here are my top five November studio gratitudes:

  • Sattvists helping Sattvists. One thing I can say definitively about Sattva teachers and community, is that we have each other’s backs. Having started with childcare during classes, many of our students entrusted us with the care of their children and we have seen many of them grow up. Our community binds together, becoming friends. We lean in and help out with our extended teachers’ community, helping watch kids, getting each other food, taking care of dogs (and cats!), subbing for one another when they go off to study, host retreats or go on holidays. When talking about this with our long-time studio manager, she concurred “no other studio on Earth does what our team does for one another.”

 

  • International Flair. In a world of increasing divisiveness, I love and honor the diversity of the members of our studio. Our teacher trainees are native in over a dozen languages and come from all corners of the world. They have spread the Sattva spirit throughout the country, across Asia and Europe. We even have Sattvists in New Zealand, Peru and Mexico. During advanced teacher trainings, we discuss global issues and there is no one-sided or myopic view of the topics most challenging in our current times. We debate, respectfully, unapologetically and discuss both sides of history, religion and conflict. In many courses, teachers are encouraged to share their vision statement in English and their nature language. In any given course, almost everyone shares twice. This means when people come through our doors, they feel welcome, because the place is comfortable and authentic.

 

  • The Cheers of Yoga. Anyone from 80’s television knows of the sitcom Cheers, and the infamous Norm. Whenever Norm stormed into Cheers bar every night, everyone shouted “Norm!” because it was the kind of place where everyone knows your name. We strive to make a personal connection with each student. Oftentimes, they are taken aback when they walk in and are greeted by name (and with a smile). I love that we stay connected to our students during their registrations, even though we have more technology at the front desk than a regional Microsoft sales office.

 

  • Cleanliness & our Karma Yogi crew. Time and time again, I see the same feedback. “This is the cleanest studio I’ve ever been in.” We have our incredible staff of Karma Yogis to thank for that. Sometimes I walk in, especially Tuesday evenings, and the place is sparkling, which lends itself to the magic and the experience on the practice. Our karma yogis are like family. We are so grateful for everything they do, each and every day.

 

  • Last, but not least… our students. As we approach our fourth year, many of our students have been there since the very beginning. We started in the shadow of another business closing down and abandoning ship. We evolved from one to three studios, from 52 classes and twelve styles and have had our share of dramatic moments. About 18 months ago, the building we occupy was sold. We waited to hear what would come next. Nothing came next as it so happened. The answer is we could very well be here for years to come. Everything around us is being tore down and rebuilt, but we still cling to our small corner of old Redmond and the esprit du corp of a local, community-centric yoga studio offering something for every body, every day. It’s so good to catch up weekly, to continue learning more about them and their lives, gradually meeting members of their family and seeing their children grow.

 

How blessed are we at Sattva? So blessed. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this yoga journey.

Three Reasons to Join the Circus

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by Ali Valdez

Everyone has something they do really well. Think of yours. Imagine being highly regarded for excellence at something, truly world class, standing far beyond your peers, cited as the example of mastery.

A picture of the incredible cast of Cirque du Soleil’s Vegas show Mystere.

 

Now admit it: at times it isn’t hard to get a little complacent because no one is eclipsing the steadiness and quality of your work. You continue but without others to challenge you to evolve, you stay as you are, and maybe even slide a bit.

Then imagine one day coming in and there are handily a dozen people able to do what you do, only ten times better.

Now what?

That’s sort of what happened to me this past month when Cirque du Soleil rolled into town.

Every year the circus comes to Marymoor park, setting up its tents across the freeway from one of my businesses, a brick and mortar yoga studio– if you’re here now, I think you know the one! This year many of the star performers and musicians began attending classes the weeks leading up to the opening of the show. Word of mouth spread, and even more of them began practicing. What makes this roaming band of contortionists, aerialists, dancers and skaters so unique is that they don’t have to come to yoga for physical conditioning or concentration. These are some of the most physically conditioned (with strength and flexibility) human beings in the world.

So I began to ask myself, what has happened as a result of having best of class in my class, and found three reasons this experience has upped my game and revitalized my focus. They are transferable to any business owner, too.

1)     Can you Scale & Keep Quality? As a yoga teacher, and studio owner, when Cirque performers walk in, your class better be brilliant. Not only does the core product have to deliver (if you want them to come back), but you have to give something they cannot get elsewhere, e.g. with their own world-class training and conditioning team. Now is not the time to pretend to be something you’re not, but if you thought you could just keep dialing it in, this is a defining moment where everything must be at its best, because it’s a balancing act of stepping up to meet their needs, and not forgetting everyone else. The complexity and physicality, not the mention the ability to manage a class to five different skill levels concurrently, is not for the amateur. One person in the room is standing folding forward trying to bring his hands to his knees; the other one is grabbing his ankles bending backward and everyone else balancing between.                                               Assessing how your services can directly serve each individual in a bespoke way brings people back- every single person. Every experience needs to meet them where they are at, even if their “at” is better than your own.

2). It’s a Family Affair. Getting to know them, the team has come to see how much like a family they are. They are relatively isolated, limited three month stints before caravanning off to another city. They rely on each other emotionally, and on stage, they rely on one another for survival. If you have experienced a show, you know there can be little room for error. The stunts are high risk, some of the acts are extremely dangerous, at times, sadly tragic.

Every year, we take the team as a group to see the show. It is a wonderful team bonding experience that everyone looks forward to. They remind us that it’s the team that makes it all work. When we work together like a family, our studio flows, and everyone in our community comes together to care and support one another. It’s pretty magical, just like it is when they are performing on stage.

Years back, I utilized Blue Ocean Strategy as part of my team-building events at Microsoft and Openwave Systems. So much to consider and appreciate about the fundamental disruptor this entertainment juggernaut has become and $300m outlet for the performing, musical and visual arts.

3). Keep Going; Never Stop Pushing your Edge. Last week, I led a class that was about half performers. I took the class through a progressively rigorous practice. It was pushing new limits for me in my teaching and my personal practice, as we did some pretty radical and mathematically complicated sequences. I truly felt like I grew from that class, and the buzz in the lobby afterward was electric. Everyone rose to new heights together. We all pushed, everyone gave that little something extra. If you’ve ever been in sales or built a product, you know how vital that incremental reach can be, for the company and for morale.

They have since inspired me to return back to a more rigorous practice and reminded me of why I keep the studio open and continue doing what I do there even though my professional trajectory has shifted. When I teach, I grow. When I practice, I change. It benefits my students, my employees, my clients and my companies. It also benefits me.

There is a expanded definition of what my A-game means to me; I am feel stronger, smarter and better for it.

If you haven’t yet experienced a Cirque du Soleil show, treat yourself to a sensory feast suitable for your family, friends, and teams. Volta is currently playing in Seattle and the show is amazing!